Numbuh C4: In Service of the KND
by Depthcharge2030
Summary: Story 6: Numbuh C4, Carol Pariuhs, dreams of one day being as good as her being as good a KND Spy as her former partner and living legend Numbuh 362. With whispers of a seemingly mythical Teen Intelligence Agency in the air, Carol's chance finally arrives.
1. Ch 1: Iron

**Good Morning. Good Afternoon. Good Evening. Welcome to the first chapter of Numbuh C4 (not to be confused with another story of the same title). This story just so happens to be the sixth in a overarching series I have affectionately dubbed The 'Legends Universe', so feel free to check out the story before this 'Numbuh 9-Lives', you might like it.**

 **This story follows the adventures of an OC character, do try to keep an open mind however.**

 **Warning: Before you start reading, keep in mind that this is rated 'T', so It's gonna be PG-13 up in here. Read and Enjoy!**

* * *

 **Legends Universe: Story 6**

 **Numbuh C4**

 **19 September, 2005**

 **Kids Next Door Online Hub**

The Kids Next Door Online Hub was nothing like the famed and almost mythical Kids Next Door Bike Hub. The Bike Hub was a spectacular wilderness of road circling round, seemingly going on forever, ultimately leading to a massive treehouse hidden from the outside world. The Bike Hub as populated. There were more than one hundred Kids Next Door operatives present at any given time. The base was fortified with the latest in off-road bicycle combat weapon systems and possessed an experimental mustard cannon capable of staining an entire city.

The Online Hub was a different story. A ghost town had more people compared to The Online Hub. The Online Hub was isolated from the rest of the KND, hidden on the streets of downtown Brooklyn, amongst the teens and adults. The Online Hub had one purpose, a singular purpose that could be performed by one operative: Harassing Teenagers on Online Video Games.

Josie Cross, Numbuh 50 as she's known as, is the sole occupant of The Online Hub. It wasn't some vast treehouse; it was a rundown apartment building that was long forgotten. What Josie lacked in bicycles and mustard cannons she made up for in computer games and barb wire.

Today was unlike any other. Josie had her mountain dew by her bean bag chair. She had her modified Xbox plugged in with a poster of the upcoming Xbox 360 hanging on the wall. She smiled as she played the sort of games her fellow operatives couldn't stomach, the kind that the teenagers relished in. With the advances in online play, the Xbox had accumulated a wealth of teenager presence, a presence Josie couldn't ignore.

So she popped in a copy of Halo 2 into her modified Xbox and prepped to ruin this fine day for any teenager on Xbox Live. It was all muscle memory from there. A double tap of the start button on the fat controller, zipping past the developer credits to the main menu.

'Single Player's For Wimps.' Josie thought to herself as she zipped straight into multiplayer. Her computer instruments and 2x4 tech actively brightened as it pulled her into an ongoing private lobby.

'A friendly game between friends, isn't friendly anymore.' Josie laughed to herself.

Josie adjusted her microphone. Her in game avatar manifested. The first person immersion brought a smile to her face. She moved her character through the map and leveled her weapon. The 2x4 tech beside her Xbox whirred, with the pull of a trigger, Josie began to shoot through the map's constructs, eliminating unsuspecting players.

"They found Mary out. Wesley is MIA. And Darwin was taken into…I just died." A disinterested teen spoke as if reading off a list in-game before being taken aback by her character's sudden death.

"We're going to need to rethink our strategies when it comes to the KN-How the heck did I die?" A teen spoke in-game.

Left and right everywhere, Josie's character dropped everyone.

"Is that guy hacking?!" A teen screamed angrily.

Josie smirked to herself. All in a day's work. She pulled up her microphone and spoke. "Eat it." She pulled the trigger again, killing the teen's character as he respawned.

The teen screamed angrily. "You're dead!"

"Nope." Josie laughed as she began to kill the teen's character again.

"Is that a kid?" An older sounding voice spoke in-game.

"It's a kid!" The teen shouted. "You're dead kid! You're dead!"

"You don't know who you just messed with." A feminine voice spoke in game. "We're going to find you."

"You're not the first to say that to me." Josie laughed. "Well later losers." Josie hit the start button on her controller, and selected the leave game option.

Josie's character avatar killed over before the other players. The teen angrily shot at the body.

"Save it." The feminine voice spoke disinterested in what remained of Josie. "Tell me you the kid's IP, Natasha?"

"Got it Boss." Another female voice chimed in. "Tracking now."

"Kaiden." The disinterested voice called to the teen who was overkilling the fallen body. The character avatar looked up at attention. "We don't know how much the kid heard. I'm fully aware of the KND's Online Division. Handle it."

"Of course, ma'am." The teen, Kaiden, said confidently. "No one's going to stop me from getting this kid."

* * *

 **Twelve Horizon's Country Club**

Noon at Twelve Horizon's was magical in the eyes of golf playing adults riding around in their mule-like golf carts. The sun rose atop a hill in the morning, cascading it's radiant excellence across the land. During Noon, however, the sun shined down over the country club, raising itself like shimmering gold to all those beyond its walls.

The old and new wealth within laughed around a table as they devoured their lunch to an old tale of glory and excitement.

"-Me and the lads won that day!" An elderly man with a wooden pipe in his mouth laughed. "We drove the KND away. Off those kids went, running with their tails between their legs as we celebrated with a bottle of Jack!"

There was a wave of laughter across the table. The gathered adults were primarily older males, ranging from late forties too their early seventies. A man in a red polo shirt and khaki slacks stood at the end of the table with an empty glass and spoon in his hands. He took the spoon an lightly tapped the glass.

"Gentlemen." The man in his mid-sixties spoke softly, wanting his peers attention. "We've done much in our years. But the enemy is still out there."

"The vile Kids Next Door." A man spoke from across the table as he held a glass of wine in his hand. A wave of contemptuous remarks flooded the room. Curses and played out slang littered the air as workers of the country club entered with trays of food on cloth covered carts.

"As you all know, the Kids Next Door attempted to sabotage by re-election." The man in red recalled. "The Kids Next Door said my school reforms were too harsh. That a 9 Hour learning period was, and I quote, 'Ridiculous'."

"Wot a bunch 'av lil' shits." A heavily accented elderly woman said aloud, earning a number of laughs for her crass attitude.

"So now that he KND has failed" The man in red took a bottle of wine from one of the servers and poured himself a glass. "Now I'm going to double my efforts. A 9 Hour Learning Period? Childs Play!" The gathered adults laughed as the servers moved the trays from the carts to the table.

"I'm going to change it all. As Governor, I'm going to overhaul it all. Schools at 4 in the morning!" The adults applauded. "A 16 Hour Learning Period! No More Recess! Fewer Bathroom Breaks!"

"Yeah!"

"That'll teach them Kids Next Door!"

"You're going to fail." A feminine voice said aloud. Some of the gathered adults shot curious glances at the accented women, earning a crude response.

From out of a cloth covered cart, shot out a kid with long red hair in black clothing. The kid landed on the table and kicked a tray cover the nearest adult, knocking him over. The kid whipped her head around and shot a death glare at the man in red. "Governor Sal." She muttered angrily.

"It's a Kids Next Door operative!" An adult in his mid-fifties shouted.

"So perceptive." The operative muttered as she grabbed a plate off the table and tossed it at the adult's face, shattering on contact and throwing the man backwards.

"Cmere' ya lil' shit stain." The accented woman reached out over the table at the operative.

"You give Potty Mouth a good name." The operative joked as she socked the heavily accented woman in the jaw, earning a sick cracking noise in response. The woman went limp and fell on the table before sliding off like a log.

The operative jumped over an out stretched arm into a sliding kick off the table, dragging the decorative sheet covering the table and all of the items resting on it with her. A clutter of silverware struck the floor, bouncing left and right giving the operative some breathing space from the adults.

The operative grabbed a pair of forks out of the air and flung them at the nearest adult, nailing him in the eyes. The adult's screams fell on deaf ears as the adults charged, shouting battle cries on renewed energy.

"Punch her!"

"Take her down! Take her down!"

The operative lunged forward, drawing a concealed mustard bottle based weapon from the inside of her dark clothing. Arctic Training had been good to the operative as she displayed the best combat prowess standard KND training had to offer. With a series of rapid arm movements and rapid yet precise pulls on the trigger, the operative landed twenty out of twenty shots from the weapon of the adults at the front of flash mob. The mustard ammunition stained shirts, ripped off toupees and slammed into the adults at bone cracking speeds.

With her ammunition depleted, the operative placed her weapon back in its concealed holster. She readied her fists and took up a fighting stance. She cracked a devilish smile and spat at their feet. "Old bones break easier."

"Is that so?" The Governor spat. The man in red ran at the operative with a chair. As he closed the distance between them, The Governor swung, smacking the operative across the face with one of the chair's legs.

The operative rolled with the strike, spinning around on her heel. She looked at the adults and shot them a bloodied smile. Her lip had busted and her crimson copper flavored blood stained what would otherwise be considered pearly white teeth. The operative brought up a balled up fist and wiped away the blood oozing down her mouth. "You hit like a girl." She insulted.

The operative summersaulted forward, catching the legs of the chair as The Governor took another swing at her. Using her momentum, the operative pulled the chair out of The Governor's hands and flung it at an adult holding a steak knife. The chair shattered on impact, knocking the adult over.

The Governor spun around, pulling back an arm, aiming to strike at the operative from behind. The operative simply ran forward, not wasting effort on the old man behind her, but rather turning her attention to the number of adults before her.

The operative and an adult dressed in golfers clothing ran at each other. The operative leapt forward, tackling the adult and effectively knocking him over. The adult hit the ground hard. A well placed punch in the gut knocked the air out of his lungs. The operative rolled off of the adult in time to avoid a jab from an adult wearing a Purple Heart Chapter Hat.

A quick glance at the Veteran's footing gave the operative enough information to take him down. The Vet jabbed again, only for the operative to duck and kick out the Vet's prosthetic leg, causing him to fall over. The operative grabbed the leg and jumped forward, bashing it against another adult's head.

"Forget this." An adult in his early forties muttered as he ran for the exit.

The operative caught sight of him at the corner of her eye and spun around, throwing the prosthetic leg like a javelin. The prosthetic struck the man in the back of the head, causing him to fall over and hit the exit door face first.

The operative looked around, finding most of the opposition incapacitated. The Twelve Horizon staff had huddled into a corner and cowered from the fighting. Only The Governor remained, standing at one end of the table, fists held out ready to have it out with the operative.

The operative jumped onto the table and sprinted at The Governor. The Governor followed likewise, jumping onto the table, preparing for a clash at the middle. At the very last second, the operative dived, stretching out her leg for a slide tackle, tripping up The Governor, and sending him flying off the table and crashing into the floor.

The operative breathed heavily as she took in the sight of her work. With a brief moment of rest done and over with, the operative approached the groaning authority figure. Standing over him, the operative reached down and pulled him up slightly by the back of his collar. Without a word, the operative slammed him back into the floor.

"Who are you?" one of the workers in the corner asked, causing the others' eyes to widen in shock as one of their number intentionally drew the operative's attention their way.

"Numbuh C4 of The Kids Next Door." The operative smirked. She returned her attention down to the pained government figure and spoke harshly. "Don't forget, Governor. Don't ever forget this. Because we'll be watching you closely from now on."

Numbuh C4 spun on her heel and calmly walked towards the exit. "In other words: take your school reforms and shove them where the sun don't shine."

"Mission accomplished." Numbuh C4 spoke into her collar as she walked out the Country Club's front door.

"Excellent, Numbuh C4." A voice emitted from her collar. "Was it a memorable experience for our newly re-elected Governor?"

"I think I did." Numbuh C4 downplayed the ordeal. "I'll give you the play by play in person, Mrs. Newly appointed Spy Sector Leader." Numbuh C4 laughed.

"See you soon, Carol." The voice laughed.

"Heading back up now, Rachel. Numbuh C4 out."

* * *

 **Thank you! Yes 'YOU'! Thank 'YOU' for reading the first chapter of Numbuh C4! I hope you liked it. 'Til Next Time, later days!**


	2. Ch 2: Steel

**I apologies for this not coming out sooner. I ran into a snag, Windows 10 removed Microsoft word from my laptop and I only recently got everything back. But enough about that! Welcome to the 2nd chapter of Numbuh C4! (Other title: Numbuh C4: In Service of the KND).**

* * *

 **KND Online Hub**

Numbuh 63 was short, often unassuming, and a tech wizard who specialized in repairing broken game stations. It wasn't a surprise when he got the call to head down from his neighborhood in Queens to the Online Hub. It went as it did every other time, Numbuh 50 would hysterically call him up, something about circuitry in the rigged Xbox going haywire.

So here he was, on call standing in an elevator going to do a job that would normally pay ten bucks for free. "Darn it, Josie." Numbuh 63 huffed. "This is why you never mix friends and clients." He muttered to himself.

The elevator doors slid open, Numbuh 63 stepped off, lugging his bag of tools with him. "Alright, what happened this time?"

Numbuh 50 sat sideways in a bean bag chair, sipping from her soda as she played with her controller settings. "About time you got here, Darius." Numbuh 50 spoke without looking at Numbuh 63. "Here." Numbuh 50 reached down beside her foot and tossed a wireless controller at him.

Numbuh 63 caught the controller. He looked at it puzzled, on the phone he was told to repair the console itself, not an accessory. Numbuh 63 started to form a question, only to be cut off by Numbuh 50.

"Come on, I need a player two." She muttered as she synced her controller with the Xbox.

"You needed a player two?" Numbuh 63 asked disbelievingly. "Josie!" He shouted angrily. "I live in Queens! Do you know how long it takes to get down here?"

"Two minutes?" Numbuh 50 shrugged.

"I take the bus!" Numbuh 63 threw his tool bag to the ground. "I sat beside some guy with a tinfoil hat! He smelled!"

"Well you're here now." Numbuh 50 burped. "You playing or not?"

Numbuh 63 took a deep breath. He exhaled and took a seat beside Numbuh 50. "Dibs on player one."

"I invited you, you're player two."

* * *

 **Kids Next Door Moon Base**

The Kids Next Door was in the midst of a changing of the guard of sorts. Numbuh 274 was nearing his one year anniversary as Supreme Leader. Positions of power once filled by the corrupt remained to be filled. Numbuh 86 had recently assumed the position of Head of Decommissioning after the former operative in charge was outed as a teenager in disguise. After such revelations of unimaginable betrayals the Kids Next Door needed a moment to get things straight, they all needed time to let the shocking events settle so they could all move on.

But things finally looked up to Numbuh C4 as she found herself walking through the metal plated halls of the Moon Base. Operatives were socializing again. Numbuh C4's age gifted her with height compared to her juniors. She could look overhead and see operatives down the hall laughing at a joke.

Numbuh C4 made a left turn, walking past an unmanned security checkpoint. The Decommissioning Squad wasn't the only KND branch that was infiltrated by teen operatives. Their former leader, Numbuh 206 was willingly working for the teens. He ultimately went missing while all the other operatives in the Spy Sector in league with the Teens were rounded up and sentenced to Immediate Decommissioning.

At least half the Sector was mind wiped, that left a lot of open positions, and barely enough operatives to carry out the day to day work. Numbuh C4 waved to an operative standing outside the Spy Sector entrance. The boy lowered the high powered bread launcher in his hands and waved back.

The boy was Numbuh 802, a field operative like Numbuh C4. With all the recent shake ups in the chain of command, personnel reassignments were common sights. One day Numbuh 802 was out in the field infiltrating the most dangerous of Adult Instillations, now he was just a kid with a gun standing outside of a door.

"I heard it went well." Numbuh 802 commented as Numbuh C4 walked by.

"You had to be there." Numbuh C4 cracked a smile as she continued on her way for her meeting.

The Spy Sector was based on The Moon Base for two reasons. The first being to keep the activities of the Sector as far away from its enemies as possible. The second reason was to keep the Spy Sector close for the Supreme Leader to monitor. Given recent events, the second reason was downright laughable.

Numbuh C4 quietly laughed as she passed by an operative who was removing a framed photo of Numbuh 206 from a wall. Beside the operative on the floor was a framed photo of Numbuh 362, the new Spy Sector Leader.

It was an easy choice to make, when it came to finding a replacement for Numbuh 206. Numbuh C4 mused. Numbuh 362 and Numbuh C4 were partners in the field. They'd have been best friends if it wasn't for Numbuh 86 filling that position in Numbuh 362's inner circle.

Numbuh C4 had been there by Numbuh 362's side since the beginning, it wasn't a surprise when Numbuh 274 came to them in the cafeteria three decks below and publically offered her the job.

Numbuh C4 walked up to the Spy Sector front desk, which was manned by a plain looking nine year old. He wore a yellow vest with his code number stitched on. "Hey Isaac." Numbuh C4 greeted the boy.

"Carol!" The boy brightened up, flashing Numbuh C4 a toothy grin. "Numbuh 362's waiting inside for you." The boy, Isaac, gestured over his shoulder to the door behind him.

"Thanks." Numbuh C4 walked off past Isaac, making her way towards the door. She pushed it open, finding Numbuh 362 sitting behind a desk typing on a computer.

"Hey Rachel." Numbuh C4 smiled.

Numbuh 362 looked away from her monitor and over to Numbuh C4. The look on her face was one glad to find a distraction. "Carol. You look like crud." Numbuh 362 remarked, gesturing to the slight bruising on Numbuh C4's face.

"I've had worse." Numbuh C4 shrugged.

"Please, sit." Numbuh 362 motioned to the chair opposite of her on the other side of the desk.

"Mission was a success." Numbuh C4 said, taking a seat. Numbuh C4 reached into her jacket pocket, removing the contents and placing it on the desk. "One Audio Recorder. With our fair Governor's self-made declaration of intent."

"Excellent." Numbuh 362 grabbed the recorder and held it up. She hit the eject button, popping out the tape. "We'll send this up to Numbuh 274, he and the rest of Global Command will use this new information to formulate a proper response."

"Any chance we can speed it up?" Numbuh C4 leaned forward. "No doubt we've got a cell in Arctic that would be happy to hold the jerk."

Numbuh 362 set the tape aside, placing the recorder back on the desk and slid it to Numbuh C4. Numbuh C4 could see the look on Numbuh 362's face changing, her eyes looking at her as a subordinate, not as equals.

"Governor Finch is a 'Politician', any action taken against him will be seen as an act of terror." Numbuh 362 spoke sharply, holding an authoritative tone. "Handling him will take expert precision. Our tacticians will take the information you've provided into consideration. Then we'll move on from there."

Numbuh C4 sat back in her seat, taken off guard by Numbuh 362's tone. "…You okay, Rache?" Numbuh C4 asked meekly, giving her commanding officer a concerned look.

Numbuh 362 leaned back in her seat and sighed. "Sorry if I don't seem like myself." Numbuh 362 glance upward at the ceiling. "The job demands a lot."

"Take a break then." Numbuh C4 suggested.

"Have you seen how bad a shape we are?" Numbuh 362 rhetorically asked. "I can't afford a break. There's too much to do. Too much requisition forms to sign, too many meetings with KND Internal Affairs."

"That brings me with the next topic of this meeting." Numbuh 362 reached into her desk, grabbing a vanilla folder with Numbuh C4's code number stamped on it. "As it is, we all can't afford breaks. Your next assignment begins now."

Numbuh 362 slid the folder to Numbuh C4. She opened the folder, finding several documents on with the word 'Leviathan' littered throughout the folder. "We checked Numbuh 206's computer. Before going MIA he must've forgotten to scrub it. We found a mother lode of incriminating evidence directed at Sector Leaders, Ice Cream Overseers, even Load Masters in the Bike Hub."

"That word, 'Leviathan', was commonly mentioned whenever Numbuh 206 communicated with the operatives."

Numbuh C4 looked over the documents, some of which appeared to be transcripts of online chat between Numbuh 206 and presumably Numbuh 11. "I can't believe how far this goes back."

Numbuh 362 nodded. "And to think he had us go after Numbuh 11 to cover his butt."

Numbuh C4 shook her head. "He knew Numbuh 274 was onto him. It just sucks when you look back and realize we we're doing his dirty work." Numbuh C4 set the contents back within the folder, making a mental reminder to read through its entirety at a later point in time. "So, what's the assignment?"

Numbuh 362 smirked. "To the point as always?"

"I take after a friend of mine." Numbuh C4 smiled.

"Your mission, Numbuh C4, is to investigate into this 'Leviathan', and determine whether its existence threatens the Kids Next Door." Numbuh 362 said, once more in an authoritative tone, a tone Numbuh C4 recognized as one she'd have to get used to sooner or later. "We even got a place for you to start. Report to Isaac outside, he'll get you what you need."

"Before all this we didn't need a middle man to get our guns." Numbuh C4 commented as she stood to leave.

"Before all of 'this', the Spy Sector wasn't a synonym to Benedict Arnold." Numbuh 362 frowned. "Now get going! Numbuh 274 wants this taken care of as soon as possible!"

"Rachel and Chad sitting in a tree." Numbuh C4 sang.

"Get Out!" Numbuh 362 shouted as she blushed. "You have a mission and I have paper work! Very sharp paper work that I can throw! Now get out!"

Numbuh C4 laughed as she skipped out the office. "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

"Grrrr!" Numbuh 362 pounded on her desk.

Numbuh C4 rounded the front desk, approaching it from the front. Isaac looked up from the computer screen and smiled once more. "'Sup."

"Numbuh 362 told me to report to you." Numbuh C4 put a hand on her hip as she shifted her weight to one of her legs. "I need a weapon."

"Right this way." Isaac stood from his chair. He walked around his desk and proceeded down the hall, waving for Numbuh C4 to follow. "Sadly, until screenings are completed, we don't have access to the KND Global Command database. We do have full access to the armory, although under strict supervision."

"So I'll just find this 'Leviathan' the ol' fashioned way." Numbuh C4 chuckled lightly. "Reading, lots and lots of reading."

* * *

 **KND Online Hub**

"BOOYAH!" Numbuh 50 shouted excitedly, jumping up from her seat and dancing in place. "Cap'd that flag like a boss! One girl army! I'm untouchable!"

"You also have cheats enabled." Numbuh 63 said dryly.

Numbuh 63 glanced at the wall clock. He'd been playing games with Numbuh 50 for five hours. If he left now he'd be able to catch the bus home and be there before curfew. "I'm gonna head out, Josie."

"You can't be serious." Numbuh 50 said as she continued her victory dance. "We're on a winning streak!"

"I need to get home, my mom will kill me if I'm late again." Numbuh 63 stood up from where he was seated and began to gather his things. "You know how she is."

"I know." Numbuh 50 sighed. "It just gets lonely here, y'know?"

As Numbuh 63 began to form another apology, the wall facing the street outside blew inward, throwing the TV and several Xboxs flying at the pair of operatives. Numbuh 50 lunged at Numbuh 63, pushing him out of harm's way.

Outside the Online Hub, stood a teenager wearing power armor and wielding an underslung rifle with grenade launcher attachment. He teen activated his jets and flew upward.

"'Sup." The teen flew through the hole into the room. "You little brats have been messing with our video games." He said angrily. "No one, messes, with our video games!"

* * *

 **Thank You Dear Reader! I hope you liked this chapter! Expect updates soon.**


	3. Ch 3: Guts

**Well, this ones been long over due. But, I'm glad I got to this one when I did. Thank you dear reader for sticking with me for the final chapter of 'Numbuh C4: In Service of the KND'!**

* * *

 **KND Archives**

The ever so glamourous spy gig had its ups and downs. Besides field missions, there was desk work. Besides desk work, there was field desk work, where an operative had to do their own research.

Armed only with a bootlegged laptop, Carol sat in the corner of KND archives combing through the correspondence between Numbuh 362's predecessor Numbuh 206 and this 'Leviathan'. There was much intricate wording and code words, probably they doubted this secret back and forth wouldn't always be so secret. That just made the job a lot harder.

For the most part the laptop helped a lot. A neat little cartoon paper clip kept dancing around in the corner. That got a laugh out of Carol.

Its more reading between the lines than she liked. But Carol could do it. That was the main thing. She had to pull some code books off of shelves as more pertinent information was discussed.

A whole four hours spent combing through correspondence after correspondence was almost enough for her to call it quits. Carol was getting ready to leave for the day, but in the corner of her eyes, in a sideways glance, she could see it all.

"Look at you, being tricky, Numbuh 206." Carol smirked.

It was a simple code and it had been making fun of her the entire time. All Carol had to do was use every second letter in every other word, then she'd see the message. 'The KND Watches You Play', it read.

Now that sounded ominous.

Carol sat back down and continued to read more emails linked to this particular conversation. It was a warning disguised as meaningless chaotic junk mail. Another message, one from whoever this 'Leviathan' was, demanded more than just a warning.

Carol recalled all the times she'd been assigned missions by Numbuh 206. She and Rachel would stand before the darkly dressed boy as he sat behind his wooden desk. He was always a hardcase. He was gruff, unrelenting and he never backed down from a superior such as Numbuh 274 or even Numbuh 100.

The more she read, the more it seemed less like a warning and more like a threat. Numbuh 206 wrote 'The Online Hub can destroy you.' That got a smile out of Carol. It was a legitimate lead. She knew of the Online Hub. She'd never been there, but she knew of its capabilities. A sole operative working in the shadows, fighting teens where they least expected, on their social webpages.

Carol shut the laptop and began to head out. She'd gotten all she needed for now. If she had any hopes of finding 'Leviathan', she would need the Online Hub's resources backing her up. Carol packed her things and departed.

* * *

 **Kids Next Door Online Hub**

When Carol arrived to the Online Hub, she found the rundown apartment complex to be even more rundown than what she had been led to believe. There was a gaping hole in the top of the building and that just seemed odd.

Rachel had been here for a case once. It was a magnificent tale about catching an online stalker. A boy who's affection for some girl had gotten too out of hand. The online Hub tracked his emails back to his computer and Rachel laid a smack down on the boy.

That brought a frown to her face. Carol glanced to her side where her partner would usually be standing. Rachel and her 'can do' attitude and her 'never back down' swagger. Carol missed when things were simpler, when it was just friends saving the world and nothing else around to complicate things.

With a saddened sigh, Carol pressed forward. She stood at the doorway and rang the doorbell. A tiny circular scanner shot out of the eye hole in the door. Blue light shot forward and scanned Carol head to toe.

"Identity Confirmed. Welcome Numbuh C4." A disembodied voice said cheerfully.

It irritated Carol, the way the scanner worked. It acted on facial recognition software. Those Teen Ninja chameleon suits could easily allow them to bypass any of their systems. The Kids Next Door needed a serious upgrade in the security department.

The door shut behind her. Carol looked around, finding wires running all throughout the building. 'Needs cleaning.' Carol thought with disgust as she noticed how terribly dirty the flooring was.

"Targets acquired." A voice spoke from upstairs. Carol's eyes narrowed. The voice was deeper than any boy's she knew. She swore it sounded like a teenager's. Not taking any chances, Carol dug into her turquoise blue jacket pocket, drawing a M.U.S.K.E.T. She held the weapon close to her side as she quietly crept up the stairs.

"Good job Kaiden." Another voice, this time sounding feminine, spoke in reply. "Bring them back to HQ. I'll send two agents for Infiltration later."

Reaching the top of the stairs, Carol quietly checked the rooms, making sure there would be no surprises instore for her. She only found wires and computers as well as several generators needed to power everything in the building.

Soon, Carol found herself at the end of the hall. Behind the closed door she could hear two muffled voices, these ones sounding like children. "Wipe everything. Today never happened." The woman's voice said sternly.

"Yes ma'am." The teen's voice replied.

Carol dug into her combat satchel and quietly withdrew a breaching charge. She placed it on the door and primed the charge. She stood her back against the wall and counted down the seconds left on the tiny timer.

"Well kids." Kaiden laughed as he rounded the tied up Josie and Darius. His wrist mounted communicator shut off as the woman hung up. "I'm an Xbox man myself, but you heard the lady. I gotta wipe your save files." He shrugged. "Sorry."

The charge went off, causing Kaiden to freeze up as pieces of door shot inward. Carol ran into the room, her weapon out and trained on Kaiden. Josie and Darius coughed behind their gags against the dust that was kicked up from the explosion.

"Hands behind your back, now!" Carol shouted at Kaiden.

Kaiden turned around, looking at Carol skeptically but then complied, putting his arms behind his back, completely out of Carol's line of sight. "Sure thing little miss. Just keep calm and this might have a happy ending." He said playing it cool.

Caught slightly off guard by the teen's casual attitude of the situation, Carol made sure not to show her falter and played it off. She stepped forward, her gun held with both hands aimed at the teen. She took a step forward and spared a glance at Josie and Darius.

"You two okay?" She asked, her eyes returning their attention to the teen standing behind her.

"Oh they're good. I wasn't too rough on them." Kaiden scoffed.

Behind the gag, Josie was cursing profoundly, Darius, on the other hand, was simply shrugging, not too concerned with his friend's violent attitude. Under the circumstances, if she wasn't the one throwing the fit, he surely would be.

Behind Kaiden's back, the teen's hands were busy hitting a number of select buttons on his wrist communicator. "Are You Sure You Would Like To Purge Call Log?" A mechanical disembodied voice asked aloud from behind Kaiden.

Carol's eyes shot wide open. That was evidence the teen was getting rid of. "Stop! Now!"

"Yes." He smirked as his communicator confirmed.

"Call Log Purged."

"Hands in front of you, now!" Carol shouted angrily.

"No problem." Kaiden said coolly before quickly drawing a laser pistol. A shoot out broke out, Kaiden shooting first, only for Carol to dodge and follow up with a rapid burst of mustard wads. Darius fidgeted behind the rope he and Josie were tied behind. His muffled cries were drowned by the loud shooting.

"Do you work for Leviathan?" Carol shouted as she rolled for cover behind Josie's bean bag chair. "Answer me!"

"Kid what do you think I am? Your prisoner?" Kaiden scoffed as he kept up the barrage of laser fire. "I ain't got nothin' to say to you."

Carol gritted her teeth angrily. She leapt over the bean bag chair, grabbing it as she was fully vertical in the air and using her momentum to throw the chair at the teen.

The chair connected with the teen's face, blinding him momentarily. Carol charged at Kaiden, tackling the boy and causing him to drop his weapon. Carol shot the teen repeatedly point blank with her weapon as he struggled to pull her off of him. Josie could only watch in awe of the fight while Darius continuously attempted to gain her attention, an idea forming in his head to grab one of the scattered video disks to cut the ropes that bound them.

Carol's M.U.S.K.E.T.'s ammo soon depleted, forcing the operative to use the weapon like a club and beat the teen across the face with it. Kaiden recoiled with every hit, each time backing up against the hole in the wall he'd created. Kaiden yanked at Carol in a vain attempt to pull the kid off, but to no avail, Carol just kept pummeling the boy.

"Quit it!" He shouted angrily.

"Answer the question teen!" She shouted. "Who do you work for?! Who's Leviathan?!" Carol smacked the teen with the butt of the M.U.S.K.E.T., this time drawing blood.

Kaiden cried out and recoiled backwards once more, this time, the teen fell out of the hole, bringing Carol with him. Josie cried out as she'd seemingly witnessed the pair's deaths. Kaiden shot up into the air, his jet boots having activated. Carol still clung to the boy and was still punching away, not once faltering.

"Seriously stop it!" The bloodied Kaiden demanded as they flew around out of control. Carol reached out with both hands and head-butted the teen. The force knocked Kaiden off balance, causing his jets to launch them over into traffic.

Kaidne slammed against a bridge. His jets cut out and Carol lost her grip on the teen. Kaiden pushed her off and landed on the top of a nearby building. Seemingly losing the kid who'd been attacking him, Kaiden took a moment to let out a sigh of relief. Carol sprang up from the side of the building, unwavering and jumped the teen once more.

"Who's Leviathan?" Carol beat the teen. "Answer me!"

"Pfft." The bloodied teen laughed. He spat and cursed at Carol several times over before the operative pummeled him once more. "You think I would give up 'Leviathan' to you?" He laughed. "Know only they are beyond you and I." He spoke cryptically.

Kaiden rammed his head upward, head-butting Carol like she'd done to him, knocking her back. Kaiden got to his feet and smirked. "Some secrets are worth dying for." He gave a victorious grin before jumping off the building into oncoming traffic.

Carol sprung to her feet and raced towards the edge in a vain attempt to catch Kaiden. She looked over the edge, only finding the aftermath of screeching tires and loud car horns. She felt like she was going to hurl. And then she did, off the side of the roof which landed on some car.

Carol picked herself up and began to head back to the Online Hub. She wiped the blood off her face with her sleeve, smearing the turquoise jacket with red. She walked back up to the doors, the scanner popped out once more. Despite her now bruised features, the scanner gave her the green light and allowed her entry.

Carol climbed the stairs once more. This time she didn't bother checking the rooms. She walked to the room at the end of the hall and was surprised to find the operatives free from their restraints. She was even more surprised to find them arguing.

"See!" Josie pointed at Carol. "She's back. You didn't have to break my game!"

"Well I'm sorry. I should've left you tied up." Darius rolled his eyes. Carol couldn't help but notice a broken game disk in his hands.

"Hey." Carol said, catching their attention. "What was all that about? What's the connection with Leviathan?"

"What?" Darius rose a brow.

"That guy attacked you for a reason." Carol muttered. "I'd like to know why. More importantly, I'd like to know who he works for."

"I've heard his voice before." Josie spoke up.

"Where?"

"Xbox Live." Josie pointed a thumb over her shoulder at the devastated game systems.

"Any chance you can pull his IP address from you game history?"

"I don't know…" Josie said unsure as she rubbed her hurt shoulder.

"I can do it." The pair of female operatives turned to see Darius waving to them. "It might take a while. And I'll need Josie's help. But I can do it."

Carol flashed the pair a grateful smile. "Thank you."

* * *

 **4 October, 2005**

 **Kids Next Door Moon Base**

 **Spy Sector Barracks**

It had taken quite some time, but Josie and Darius had come through. Carol sat on her bunk, a data pad in hand and a scrap of paper with an IP address in the other. On the data pad was a customized search engine and the IP address. Carol sat in silence, waiting for the engine to provide a positive location.

Carol found herself lost in the silence of her mind. Months ago she'd be doing this sort of thing with Numbuh 362, the both of the waiting around for results together as one unit. But Numbuh 362 had moved on to be what the KND needed her to be. Maybe she missed the feeling of having people at her back, helping her with a common goal. Maybe she missed being apart of a team.

Maybe she just felt lonely.

The data pad let out a low beep, signifying its current task had been completed. Carol left her thoughts and returned to the task at hand. She looked at the results, finding the IP address had been tracked to Rhode Island.

Carol frowned. She knew of the Kids Next Door's history with that state. It sort of made sense that her mission would take her there. Carol sat up from her bunk and began to prepare. She'd have to make a stop by the Moon Base armory on her way out, but for the most part, she had all that she needed in the room with her.

Carol got dressed in standard issue Spy Sector dress consisting of black turtle necks and cargo pants with a red sash to offset the bleak coloring. She threw on her boots and tied her laces. She grabbed her standard issue Combat Satchel and secured it. She grabbed the data pad and the keys to her S.P.R.A.Y.S.H.I.P. Carol walked to her door and pulled it open. She hit the lights and locked the door behind her.

'Look out Rhode Island. Here comes Numbuh C4.'

* * *

 **Now that this is over, I just realized Carol would make a good boxer. Hey, she can take a punch. Well that's it for 'In Service of the KND', catch you guys later for the sequel.**

 **But before that, the next story in my series, which is actually already out!**

 **Next: Numbuh 322**


End file.
